Furnace feed device



New? 13125.

W. M NAMARA FURNACE FEED DEVICE Filed Dec. 5, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet .L

" (INVENTOR it: Illa/n Mc/Va mama MIN BY it M ATTORNEY Nbv; 3, 1925 ismw w. MONAMARA 3 FURNACE FEED DEVICE Filed Dec. 5, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 3, EJ192551..-

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WILLIAM MGNAMABA, OF CONNELLSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 CAPSTANGLASS COMPANY, OECONNELLSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OE DELA-WARE.

FURNACE FEED DEVICE.

Application filed December To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Human MGNAMARA, a citizen of the United States.residing in Connellsville, in the county of Fayette, State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful lm n'ovemeuts inFurnace Feed Devices, of which the following is a spccifi cation.

This invention relates broadly to charging devices for furnaces and moreespecially to a mechanism for mechanically serving a glass tank orfurnace with materials to be melted in the tank.

Glass furnaces in the art for the purposes of explaining this invention,may be divided into two general classes, namely, day tanks, or furnaces,and continuous tanks,-or furnaces. In the day tank the materials to bemelted are placed in the furnace and'are subjected to a melting heat fora suliicient length of time to completely fuse together the materials tomake glass, commonly re ferred to in the art as the batch, and then theglass formed-by the melting of the batch is worked out of the tank. Thetank is permit-ted to cool and the operation is repeated. In thecontinuous tank the construction is such that the furnace proper isdivided into two chambers, the first comprising the melting chamber, andthe second, which is connected to the first by means of a narrowpassageway called the throat, is the refining chamber or the part of thefurnace in which the materials are subjected to a melting heat for arelatively long period of time to uniformly melt the mass.

The remote end of the melting tank, namely, the melting chamber, isadapted to be served from time to time with the batch of a mixture ofmaterials which comprise the glass when these materials are fused toform a plastic mass in the tank. In the continuous tanks the glass in aplastic state flows by gravity from the meltmg chamber into the refiningchamber and the level of glass in the two chambers is substa';.tiallythe same.

The plastic glass is taken from the refining chamber and manufacturedinto commercial articles. The process is a continuous one and the tankmay run for many months without the operation being stopped. In thiscontinuous operation it is desirable that the level of glass in the tankshall be maintained substantially constant or with- 5, 1923. Serial No.878,589.

in very narrow limits. This means that raw piaterial must be fed intothe melting chamber at substantially the same rate that the plasticglass is removed from the refining chamber. In very large furnaces thema- Ell terial passing through the furnace may run into several hundredtons per day. The la bor of serving such a large amount of material tothe tank becomes an important fac tor. Heretofore in the art this hasbeen done by hand labor, which is usually not high. class labor, andtherefore is not apt to be performed with the regularity which isnecessary for the proper operation of the furnace.

The present invention provides mechanical devices which operate tocharge .the furnace with the batch by pushing the batch exactly theright distance into the chamber. The operation is a simple one and isper/- formed mechanically without substantial manual effort and thecharge is fed to the furnace at the proper time so that the oper' ationsof the furnace will be carried on in such manner as to produce the bestresults. 39 This charging mechanism comprises mechanically drivencharging head or scraper which is driven forward by suitable mechanismwith a movement which carries the, batch into the furnace' in the mostexpedi tious manner. m I

The principal Objecthiif the present invention is an improved device forserving raw materials to a continuous glass tank by pushing accumulatedmasses of materials into the furnace. i

Another object of the present invention is a mechanical device forpushing the batch into the glass furnace by causing an inward anddownward pressure on the batch during the feeding operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for mechanicallyfeeding glass furnaces or the like which "may be set in operation and.will automatically cease to 1% function after a predetermined amount ofoperation.

Other and further objects of the present invention will in partbeobvious and will in part be pointed out hereinafter in thespecification following by reference to the accompanying drawings,throughout the several figures of which like parts are designated bylike character.

It is recognized that the present invention may be eii'ibodied instructures other than those herein specifically disclosed therefore itis desired that the present disclosure shall be considered asillustrative andnot in the limiting sense.

Figure l is a more or, less diagrammatic illustration of one embodimentof the inventi on.

Figure is an elevational view of a por tion of the driving mechanism;

Figure 3 is, a view illustrating a detail of the mechanism for releasingthe clutch.

Figure -l is a detail plan View of a portion of the driving mechanism;

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the path of movement of thebatch serving scraper.

Referring; now to the d'awings, which more or less diugranunaticallyillustrate one form of the present invention, the glass furnace 1illustrated as showing a portion of the charging end of the meltingchamber and is provided with an opening .2 through. which the batch t isadapted to be served into the furnace'on the surface of the molten la sa.

a 'l his charging end of the furnace is pro vided with an extensionportion 6 and is shofin as containing a mass 7 of more or less unincltedmaterial. A batch tank 8 is adapted. to contain the materials necessaryfor the manufactured glass and is supported a sufficient height abovethe extension. 6 to permit the batch to be fed by gravity through asuitable spout 9 to the extension near the opening 2. The rapidity ofthe discharge of material through the spout a is controlled by asuitable sliding gate it) or the I like. The material pours from the endof the spout 9 on to the mass in the extension and accumulates as a pileindicated in Figure 1 in dotted lines.

A push rod 11 carries on its forward end a scraper 12 which is pivotedin such manner as to stand substantially vertically and resist forcescoining against the scraper in front of the same and in. line with theaxis of the push rod. The scraper mayyieid to forces back of the scraperso that on return movements it passes freely over any material that mayhave accumulated behind the scraper while it has gone forward to pushthe batch into the furnace. An. adjustable collar is is mounted on thepush rod and forms the pivots for the upper end of a vertical guide link15 which is pivoted at it} upon a suitable frame or foundation. ,Theouter end of the push rod 11 is pivoted to the turner end of a drive arm17 that is mounteil on a shaft i8 so as to oscillate around. the axis ofthis shz: t- 38. The drive arm I? is TH'OVlZlQi'l with a guidcwayopening it in which a crank block on the crank 21. adapted to slide. Thecrank is secured to a crank; dist: 2? which 1,5eo,ovo

is mounted on a stub shaft 24 that carries a worm Wheel 25. The Wormwheel is engaged by a worm 26 on the worm shaft 27. The outer end of theworm shaft carries one member 28 of a clutch which is provided with anoperating arm 30 mounted on an operating shaft 31 and connected by anarm 32 and the link 3 with a pedal 35. When the pedal is depressed theparts operate to cause the clutch member 28 to engage the adji'iiningclutch member 36 which is socurcd t0 the stub shaft 37 that carries thegear 38 which in turn engages the pinion 39 on the motor shaft 4-0. Asthe driving; inechanisin operates to turn the crank disk the revolutionof the disk brings the release cam 41 into engagement with the releaselever 1 2 that is normally held in an upward position by means of thespring 14. resting on the pin When the release cam il engages therelease lever -12 it forces the lever downwardly against the resistanceof the spring 44: and causes the arm rfito rotate the operating shaft 3iin such directi n as to cause the operating arm 30 to withdraw theclutch member 28 from the power driven member 36, thereby stopping therotation of the scraper operating parts. This operation. occurs afterthe crank disk has r ide one complete turn providing the release leveris in the path of the cam 41. A. handle 4? is mounted on the upper endof a push rod 48 which is directly over the arm 32 so that. a downwardpressure on the handle at? will cause the push rod to engage the arm 32and release the clutch. at any time whenever the operator desires toquicle ly stop the operations without stopping the motor.

After a suitablx amount of batch has accumulated on the extension of thefurnace, the operator presses downwardly the opmuting pedal, therebyengaging the clutch with the driving stub shaft and thereby causing thedrive nu-ciianisin to rotate the crank block it) upwardly in theguideway 15) and this carries the crank block toward the upper-end ofthe driving arm 1'? and away from the pivot shaft is on which the arm 17mounted. The forward speed movement thus imparted to the push rod lldiminishes as the block :21) moves furt away from the pivot '18 with thecorres onding effective increase in transmission of power to thescraper. The rotation continues and carries the crank bloc]; to theextreme forward position which slightly below a horizontal line throughthe axis of the shaft 524. llluriug; this forward movem nt the push rod'll has moved t'rmn outward po ition'lxi extren'se inward {u "itiou andhas carried the scraper l2 finuu ltt. th reby pushing the ll'lllltillVf,pi! ol' batch through the opcn into the glass furnace l. Thegundirectioi'i of the movement oi" the scraper has beenan -inward anddownwardunove ment through the first half thereo tand an inwardandupwardmovement tothe latter half so that the path'of the bottom ofthe scraper has been substantially that of the curve X in Fig. 5, whenthe parts are set as illustrated. This is brought about by the fact thatthe guide link 15 is considerably longer than the driving arm 17 and thearc of movement therefore of the link 15 is less curved than the arc ofmovement of the upper-end. of the driving arm. The character of the pathof movement of the scraper maybe changed by sliding the adjustablecollar 14 toward or away from the i :outer end of the push rod. isadjusted so that the idler link 15 stands If the collar 14 vertical.when the actuating arm isin its extreme inner position, that 1s,.nearest to the tank, the scraper will take a path ex tending in aninward and upward direction.

Itthe collarlt is adjusted so that the idler link 15 stands verticalwhen the actuating arm is in its extreme outer position, then the pathof movement of the scraper will be downward and inward, and any adjust/-ments of the collar 14 between these two positions will change themovement of the scraper between the two extreme limits. This movement isan important one because it produces the desirable action on the surfaceof the glass in pushing the batch forward and into the furnace. As thecrank 20 continues to rotate from the extreme 1nward position to theextreme outward position, it carries the crank block downwardly towardthe pivot shaft 18, thereby increasing the velocity of movement of theupper end of the drive arm and diminishes the eflectivepower on the pushrod. This alloccurs on the return stroke movement of the push rod andscraper when substantially no work is being done by the scraper. Fromthe foregoing: it will appear that the push rod is moved inwardly slowlyunder the most eliective power transmission part o-t the cycle, and thatit is movedoutwardly quickly under the least eliective power move mentof the cycle and at which time very little work is being done by themechanism. Because of the hinged construction ofthe scraper on itsoutward movement, 1t rides over any material which mayhave accumulatedupon the furnace extension during: the forward stroke.

lVhere it is desirable to have the device operate continuously, therelease lever 42' which is mounted on the shaft 49 may be moved sidewiseby pulling on the'handle 50 causing the spring latch 51 to snap from thegroove 52 into the groove 54 and thereby hold the release lever out ofthe path of movement of the release cam 41. When this is done, themachine willcontinue to operate until ii it tgclutoh is opened byrestoration ofi i Ni V. .1

justcd so that the feed ot' batch into the furnace corresponds to thematerial being melted in the furnace and used from the outlet endthereof, the entire mechanism may operate without the intervention of anoperator. v

From the foregoing it will be observed that substantially constantconditions may be maintained which completely obviate the necessity ofusiru manual labor to serve a continuous glass furnace as has been thepractice heretofore. j

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: i i

1. A device of the character described comprising' in combination aglass "furnace or the like pri'rvided with a. charging openmg, a scrapermounted for longitudinal movement adjacent said opening, means forimparting to said scraper a reciprocating" movement in a predeterminedcurved path to push material through said opening into said furnace andmeans to vary the path through which said scraper moves during itsscraping movement.

2. A device of the class described comprising in combination a push rod,an opera tlve head on said push rod, a pivoted drive arm operativelyconnected with said push rod, rotating crank means operativelv cohnectedwith said drive arm to cause said arm to oscillate on its pivot with arapid motion in one direction and a-slow mot1on in the oppositedirection, and guiding means to cause said head to move in a predetermined curved path.

, 3. In a device of the character described,

ji push rod, a. drive arm connected to one end of sa1d push rod, ascraper head on the other end of said push rod and adapted to perform ascraping operation, an adjustable guide means for changing the path ofmovement of said scraper during the scrap mg operation, and means 'fordriving said drive arm.

4. device of the character described, comprising a push rod, a scraperhead on the inner end of said push rod, an oscillating driving armconnected to the outer end of said push rod, aguide link of a differentlength from said guide arm, adjustable means connecting saldgurde linkwith said push arm whereby the point of connectionmay be adjustedlongitudinallyo id push rod to var the angle between the ongitudinalaxes o said link and said arm and thereby vary the path of movement ofthe scraper head, and means to cause said driving arm to oscillate.

5. A device of the character described, comprising in combination apusher rod, a

usher head upon said pusher rod, supportmg links of unequal length forguiding said pusher rod, means for adjusting the relation l'mt ecn saidlinks and said rod tovary the path of movement of the pusher head, anddevices to cause said pusher rod to reciprocate to and fro.

6. A furnace feed device comprising a scraper, actuating mechanism tomove said scraper to and fro, means to set said actuating mechanism inoperation to move said scraper, and means-to automatically interrupt themovement of said scraper after a predetermined amount of movement.

7. A furnace feed device comprising a scraper, actuating mechanism tomove said scraper cyclically to and fr0,means to set said actuatingmechanism in operation, and means to automatically interrupt theoperation of said scraper after a predetermined number-of cycles ofmovement.

8. A furnace: teed device comprising a scraper, actuating mechanism tomove said scraper to and fro, means to set said actua't ing mechanism inoperation, means to auto matically terminate the flGtUfllllOIh of said1,see, ovo

scraper, and means to render said terminat ing means inoperative.

9. A furnace feed device comprising a scraper.,-- means com. rising arotating merc her to. actuate sai scraper, means to set said rotatingmember m operat on, means -to terminate the operation of eaid rotatingmember, and means carried by said rotating member to actuate saidterminating means and thereby automatically interrupt the opminate' theoperation of said rotating memher, a cam portion carried by saidrota-ting member, and a mechanical iink, said link having an operativeposition in which itiiS' engaged by said cam. member to actuate saidterminating mechanism and having a, nonoperative position in which it 18not engaged by said cam member.

11.,A, furnace feed device comp-rising i -means movable to and'frotoadvance charging material to a glass furnace or the like,

means to actuate said charge advancing means, and means to automaticallyrender said'actuating means ino kerativer WILlulLAL McNAMARA.

